Philadelphia Judge Orders New Trial For Two Men Convicted Of 1995 Murder

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)– A Philadelphia judge has ordered a new trial for two men convicted of a 1995 murder.

The ruling is a milestone for the four-year-old Innocence Project at Temple University.

Eugene Gilyard was among the first to write when the Pennsylvania Innocence Project opened at Temple University. He and Lance Felder had been convicted of a brutal robbery and shooting on the strength of a single witness who had picked him out of a photo array two years after the crime.

Project director Marissa Bluestine says it was an easy call to take Gilyard’s case, but a long process.

“This case was about finding out the truth, what really happened and that is an intensive investigation.”

In this case, it yielded a confession to the killing from another man.

Judge Rose Marie DeFino-Nastasi said it was evidence that needed to be put before a new jury.

She also explained she was overwhelmed by the ruling, and not just for Gilyard and Felder.

“Maybe now the victim’s family can finally get the truth.”

The District Attorney’s office has 30 days to decide whether to challenge the ruling.

Pat Loeb's radio experience has the makings of a country song: she lived a lot of places, went down a lot of roads, but they all led her home -- to Philadelphia and to KYW Newsradio, where she started her career some 30 years ago.
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